


One Summer

by yourqueen



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Diners, Alternate Universe - High School, Eventual Smut, Fluff, M/M, Summer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-30
Updated: 2014-08-22
Packaged: 2018-02-06 22:08:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1874268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourqueen/pseuds/yourqueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The summer before his senior year Dean gets a job working at Ellen's Diner. Things seem to be pretty dull until the diner gets a new regular customer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic so please don't hate me if it sucks. I need to practice writing over the summer and this is a really great outlet to do it. Leave any comments at the bottom I'd be happy to hear any comments or criticisms!!

It was one of those perfect summer nights; the kind that makes you wish you could be a kid again so you could catch fireflies and moths. The mid-July humidity lay thickly upon the dewy grass as Dean was making his way home from his shift at the diner. It was lighter than normal due to the full moon and he could see his way home clearly. As Dean approached his neighborhood he could hear the muffled hum of television sets through the open windows of the surrounding houses. Dean could see his home, or poor excuse for one, in the distance. A nervous ache settled deep in his stomach at the sight of his father’s car parked in the driveway, seeing as he normally wouldn't be home for another few hours.  
After taking several deep breaths in preparation for the oncoming storm he slowly opened the screen door. To his luck it appeared that his father, John, was passed out on the couch with a nearly empty bottle of whisky within arm’s reach. Nights that John was home early, or before sunrise rather, were spent drown in alcohol. An early night meant that John hadn't received much work at his auto shop. Often he blamed his sons for the low income of the family and would take out his anger rather… physically. Dean winced at the thought of his brother alone with their father and quickly fled the entryway to check on him. Dean was careful to noiselessly shut the door and sneak down the hall unnoticed. Once near to his and his brother’s shared room he could hear stifled sob coming from behind the door.  
“Sammy?” Dean ventured quietly as he opened the door. His brother lay on the bed curled into himself as he hid his cries in his pillow. “Dammit Sammy look at me!” Dean breathed anxiety evident in his voice. Slowly Sam complied and rolled over to look at his older brother. A darkening bruise was forming around his eye and there was a jagged gash lining his cheekbone. The air seemed to leave the room as Dean looked upon his brother’s injuries in horror. “Dammit Sammy I should’ve been here sooner… This is my fault I’m so sorry.” Sam cut off his apology with a look of irritation, “No, Dean this isn’t your fault it’s dad’s.” tears began to well in Sam’s eyes as he continued. “It’s just… I think I really hate him, you know? I think… Dean I think that makes me a bad person” Sam wiped escaping tears off his cheek and looked at Dean for confirmation. Dean quickly moved toward the bed to comfort his younger brother. “Sammy look at me.” Dean instructed placing one hand gently under Sam’s chin. “You are the nicest person I’ve ever met… hell, you’re probably the nicest person on the damn planet.” Lowering his voice Dean finished, “Hating Dad doesn’t make you a bad person Sammy, it just makes you sane.” Sammy’s big brown eyes welled up with tears as he bit his lip to hold back a sob. Dean moved quickly to pull him into a hug, “Hey, hey now Sammy, it’s okay I’m here now Dad can’t touch you when I’m here. Everything will be okay I promise.” Dean pressed a soft kiss to his brother’s hair line.  
A while later, after Sam’s sobs subsided he pulled away from his brother’s embrace. “Hey, Dean?” Dean looked over at his brother and responded, “Yeah Sammy, what’s up?” Sam paused before continuing quietly, “Can you tell me about mom.” Dean looked at him with sadness in his eyes but continued anyhow, “Uhh, yeah. Mom… well mom she was an angel. She used to make us pies that were, well Sammy they were awesome. And…” Dean paused. Although Sam was his brother, talking about his mom felt like telling someone his deepest secrets. Dean knew that Sam had a right to know all about the mother he never really had so Dean went on. “And… man Sammy she loved us. She loved us a whole lot. She would… umm… ha she’d sing me Hey Jude when I was sad and tell me that I was special.” Dean smiled t the memory and continued on for a while telling Sam anything he could remember about their mother. When he ran out of memories he looked over at Sam, “Ah, that’s all I got man…” he stated only to notice that Sam had fallen asleep next to him. Dean pressed a quick kiss to his forehead and whispered “Angels are watching over you.” To him like his mother would have before retreating to his own bed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A not-so-average day at the diner.

Dean’s alarm sounded early the next morning. Rubbing his eyes Dean checked the time: 4:30am. Shit. His shift at the diner started at 5:00, he’d hardly have time to get there. After quickly tossing on his uniform Dean left the house at a fast pace to make his shift. He only slowed down his stride once he could see Ellen’s Diner up the street. Mentally preparing himself for a long day in a greasy kitchen Dean entered the Diner through the back door.  
5:00am on a Monday was admittedly not the busiest hour for the Diner so Dean moved at a leisurely rate. He approached the counter with a plate of eggs and toast for a regular customer when he noticed someone new sitting down the end. Dean made his way over to the new guy to take his order, “What’ll it be today?” Dean greeted the man, who now appeared much younger than Dean had initially thought. He seemed to be around seventeen years old, but wore a cheap ill-fitting suit. When the man looked up at Dean it was as if time stopped; everything but blue eyes piercing his soul faded to nothingness. “For now I think I’ll just take a coffee.” Dean was awestruck by the low rumbling voice that escaped the man in a quiet mumble. After a long moment of held eye contact Dean finally processed what had been said. “Oh! Yeah, uh, sure.” He brought over a pot and poured some of the deep brown liquid into a mug for the man. “You ready to order yet?” The man looked up with deep concern painted on his face, “I’m unsure.” He replied, “This food… it’s all very new to me.” Dean looked at him while questioning his sanity, “Food is new to you?” The man looked up from his menu with an expression that could only be described as offended confusion. “No, diner food is new to me.” The man brought his gaze back down to his menu as he continued to speak, “I don’t know what I should order since I’ve never really been to a diner before.” Dean stared at the man in utter disbelief before proceeding, “Yeah, uh, listen man I have to go help table three. That should give you a few minutes to decide.”  
What kind of person has never had diner food before? Dean thought to himself as he waited on table three. He thought about the man sitting at the counter, his confusion’s actually kind of cute. Dean smiled to himself before realizing what he’d just thought. Not like attractive cute like adorable cute. He tried to justify before realizing that that was no better. He moved back behind the counter to give Benny, the head cook, the orders he just collected. Dean looked over at the guy down at the end of the counter still staring at the menu as if it was completely foreign to him. I guess I’ll try this again. Dean thought as he moved down toward the man. “So, see anything you like?” Dean paused thinking that that might’ve sounded like a pick-up line. “Umm, on the menu.” He awkwardly finished. The guy in the suit looked up at him again, “I’m thinking about waffles.” He stated shortly. Dean smiled at the guy before asking him, “And what kind of waffles you would you like?” The man looked as if he’d never conceived this amount of effort being put into ordering food. Dean noticed his confusion and made his best effort to help, “Whoa there buddy, don’t hurt yourself. How about this I’ll get you strawberry waffles with some whipped cream and if you hate it,” Dean paused and evaluated the face of the boy in front of him and how he seemed to light up at Dean’s voice. “Well if you hate it I’ll get you something else on the house.” The guy almost smiled at him, almost. “Thank you that is very kind. May I ask your name?” Dean huffed a laugh, “The name’s Dean.” Dean flashed him a smile and a wink before turning away.  
Dean attempted to hide his quickly reddening blush. Holy Shit! Did I just wink at him? Dean thought to himself as he walked away from the counter. “Hey uhh Benny, one waffle with strawberries and whipped cream. Make it a good one, kid’s never had a friggin’ waffle before.” Benny looked up at him and snickered, “Dean are you blushing?” Dean wiped his face in attempt to remove the color, “No!” he replied defensively, causing Benny to laugh again before answering him. “It’ll be ready in ten, this chick better be cute.” Benny turned back to the stove as Dean walked away still red as a beet.  
Dean made his way around the small diner and checked on the few customers that were present hoping to recollect his cool before returning to the guy at the counter. “Hey, sorry I didn’t catch your name.” Dean began as smoothly as he could muster. “My name is Castiel.” The guy answered shortly. Well that was unexpected. Dean thought to himself before slowly repeating the strange name, “Cas-tee-elle” Dean looked down at the guy smiling “Cool name, man. Kind of a mouthful though.” Castiel’s eyes lit up slightly, “It’s derivative of Cassiel, who is the angel of Saturn and the moon. My parents believed that Cassiel sounded a bit too feminine so they decided upon the lesser used version.” Dean looked at him a bit taken aback, “Wow. So, religious parents?” Castiel’s smile straightened out into firm stare, “Yes I come from a rather religious family altogether.” Dean noted the change of tone and decided to drop the subject. “Alright well I’m gonna check on your waffle and I’ll be right back. Dean flashed him another smile as he turned away in hopes of lightening the mood.  
Dean returned with a sinful looking plate heaped with loads of strawberries and whipped cream. “Okay my good sir,” Dean began in a mock-formal voice, “I present to you your first ever waffle.” He placed the waffle down in a grandiose manner and awaited Castiel’s response. Rather than a verbal answer Castiel decided upon lifting his fork and holding it above the waffle anxiously. He looked up to Dean and asked, “How am I supposed to eat it?” Dean looked at him in confusion, “You just dig in.” Castiel looked down at the waffle again and slowly stabbed his fork into it. He lifted the fork up with the whole waffle attached, nearly spilling off all the contents onto the table. “Whoa! Careful, man use your knife.” Dean exclaimed before Castiel was able to completely ruin his breakfast. Once Castiel managed to cut out a reasonably sized bite he unceremoniously took his first bite. Dean looked at him expectantly as Castiel placed the forkful in his mouth. Castiel moaned as he chewed the waffle which did Dean no favors. Thank God there’s a counter between us. Dean thought to himself before claiming that he needed to go attend to other customers.  
As Castiel consumed his breakfast Dean spent every free moment he could find to go and check in on him, professionally of course. He discovered that Castiel was starting an internship at the bank today doing minor accounting jobs. Dean laughed openly, “Castiel the Holy Tax Accountant” he stated mockingly, “You know Cas, it kind of has a nice ring to it.” Castiel looked up at him in wonderment, “Did you just call me Cas?” Dean’s thoughts were stopped in their tracks as he realized he’d just nicknamed a guy he just met. “I think I did. I’m sorry if it bothers you I can…” Dean rapidly said but Castiel cut him off, “No, it’s fine. You can call me Cas if you want to.” Dean tried to shrug it off “Okay, well if you don’t mind. I mean it’s a helluva lot shorter than Castiel.” Cas smiled at him kindly “Yes, I suppose it is less to say. Would you mind bringing me the check?”  
As Dean left the counter to go get the check thinking about Cas all the while. “Okay here you go.” He said as he placed the check down before Castiel. “You can just take it now.” Cas replied handing it back with a $20. Dean returned with Cas’ change only to notice that he’d already left. Another five dollars were left on the counter place on top of a napkin that read ‘Thank you for talking to me. –Castiel’ Dean grabbed both and quickly shoved them in his pocket blushing all the while.  
Dean returned home that afternoon to see Sam sprawled across the couch watching tv. Dean walked over and shoved Sam’s feet off the couch and sat in the now open space. “Hey!” Sam exclaimed attempting to regain his foot room. “You don’t need to take up the whole couch Sammy. C’mon I worked all morning.” Dean replied. Sam gave him a look of irritation before asking, “So how was the Diner today?” Though the diner had been rather busy after Cas’ departure Dean still smiled at the memory of the morning. “I was really good.” Sam looked at him astonished with his positive attitude toward a Monday at work. “Dude, you hate the diner.” Dean chuckled, “I guess I do but today was different.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay that's the second chapter. I tried to write Cas as best as I could but he's really damn hard to write without making him seem too adorable or too uninterested. So I hope you enjoy regardless :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry I haven't updated in forever, but I honestly thought I was just going to give up on this. Anyway i feel re-motivated and i;m gonna try to update more frequently now. Thanks to anyone who reads this, I really hope you like it!

The week following Castiel was at the diner every morning. Dean lit up every time Cas walked through the door and sat at his spot down the end of the counter. After a few days Dean developed a pattern: First he would pretend not to notice Castiel’s arrival and help out serving other tables. Next he would slowly make his way over to Cas and make a cheesy joke or some lame ice-breaker. Finally he would spend the next forty minutes helping Castiel pick out a meal and talking to him. This worked for the entire week until Saturday when Castiel didn’t show up for breakfast.  
Dean pretended not to notice or care but inwardly he wondered if he would ever see the guy in the trench coat again. What if it was just a week long thing and he’ll never come back. Shit I should’ve asked him. Dean thought to himself as he waited upon the ever-growing crowd in the diner.  
Dean went home between shifts to grab lunch and check in on Sammy. He felt empty on his walk as if a day at the diner meant nothing if he didn’t get to spend it teasing Castiel. The truth was he was really starting to like the guy and had hoped to ask him to hang out sometime. That was it, just to hang out, for now. Dean had noticed his attraction to boys young, so this was nothing completely new to him. The first time he liked a boy he was in the sixth grade and was sat next to a boy called Andrew in his math class. Andrew had reddish-brown hair and big brown eyes. Dean liked him because they could make jokes during class and they would pass noted with silly drawings on them making fun of their teacher. The crush didn’t last long though because Dean was reseated for disrupting class. Since then Dean has never actively liked a boy, but rather just noticed fleeting attractions to some of the guys he met; until Cas.  
Dean knew as the week went on that if he was given the chance he could really fall for this boy. His sex-hair, laugh, crooked tie, and inexperience in life made Dean feel all warm and happy. It seemed to Dean that he could never get enough of Castiel. He could listen to him talk about nothing for hours and still wish that there was more time he could spend with him.  
Dean opened the screen door to his house and went straight for the kitchen. “Sammy I’m making burgers if you want one!” Dean yelled so his brother would hear him. He grabbed ground beef and seasonings and prepared to make his lunch. “Yeah I could eat.” Sam said as he walked into the kitchen, long hair in a mess. “Dude, did you just wake up?” Sam yawned and stretched ash he walked over to the fridge. “Yeah, like ten minutes ago.” Sam muttered as he poured himself a glass of milk. Dean turned toward his younger brother “Sam it is 1:30…PM. How in the hell are you just getting up?” Sam just shrugged and ducked out of the room to go to the couch.  
Once the burgers were ready Dean grabbed a beer from the fridge and sat down next to his brother placing the burgers on the coffee table in front of them. “Thanks Dean,” Sam said as Dean sat, “How was work?” Dean sighed and looked up from his burger he’d already half eaten and replied, “Eh, shitty. And my next shift starts soon so I’d rather not talk about it right now. Sam looked at him concerned, “Dean, you have bee loving the diner this week, what changed?” Dean looked back at his burger, “Nothing, Sam just working double shifts at a 24 hour diner aint my favorite pass time.” Sam furrowed his eyebrows and held his concern but figured it was a fight for another time.  
When Dean returned to the diner at four it was much slower paced. He walked into the kitchen through the back and over to his coworker, Jo. “Hey Jo, what’s up?” Jo looked up from where she was sorting money from her apron. “Oh, hey Dean. It’s pretty dead in here right now but if you wanna go check in on the guy over there it’d be a huge help.” Jo flashed him an award-winning smile and Dean smiled back at her and rolled his eyes. “Yeah, huge help my ass.”  
Dean went down toward the guy only to realize that he knew that messy hair. “Hey Angel, what can I getcha.” Dean smiled at Cas. Castiel was wearing a red and gray cardigan over a black tee-shirt, he had tan khaki pants on and a deep red beanie. Cas smiled up at Dean “Hello Dean.” He said shortly before continuing, “I was unaware that diners stayed open past breakfast.” Dean laughed, “Not all do but this one never actually closes. It’s open 24/7.” Cas looked confused and amazed by that. “Who would want to come here in the middle of the night?” Dean smiled at the guy, “I don’t really want to know, man. That’s not my shift and I hope it never is.” Cas smiles at Dean and they held a stare for a beat too long. Dean cleared his voice, “So umm… do you know what you want yet?” Dean’s attempt to clear the air only made it more awkward, but Cas didn’t seem to notice. “No, I was thinking since you serve some lunch food I might order that instead given the time of day.” Dean looked at Cas as a happiness settled upon him; Castiel was back. “Yeah man, sure thing. Is there anything on the menu that you want to try?” Cas looked up at Dean with his trademark squinted eyes and head tilt. “Dean, why are you here? I thought you worked in the morning. Dean tried to hide his embarrassment as he answered, “Yeah well sometimes I have to pick up extra hours to you know, keep food on the table at home. Dean kept his eyes cast downwards shamefully. When Dean finally looked up at Castiel he was met with blue eyes filled with amazement. “Dean, that is very honorable. You don’t need to look ashamed.” Dean broke the eye contact and mumbled a quick “uh.. yeah” Before walking back to the kitchen.  
When Dean returned to Cas he had hopes of working up the courage to ask the boy to hangout sometime. “So, Castiel, you weren’t here this morning.” Cas looked up from the menu expressionlessly, “No, I seem to have slept in.” Dean tried to hold back mental images of the boy in pajama pants with sleepy eyes and messy hair, but it was too tempting a scene to not imagine. Dean was stopped in his thoughts when he realized that he’d been staring into Cas’ eyes for a solid five minutes and never even answered him. He cleared his throat, but never stopped looking into Castiel’s eyes. “So listen,” Dean began, “I get out of here at seven. Do you have plans tonight?”  
There was a long pause after the question left Dean’s mouth and he began to deeply regret asking. A panic set-in and Dean realized that he’d been a bit presumptuous and he was about to withdraw his comment when Castiel spoke up, “I’m free tonight.” A relief set over Dean, “Okay cool. Do you know what you want to eat yet?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'll hopefully update again this week to you know make up for lost time.


End file.
